January update

Dear friends,

I hope you all had a pleasant holiday season with family and friends.  I enjoyed spending the holidays with my girlfriend, Kristie, who came to visit me in Oslo for a few weeks.  We utilized the time to visit a few European sites, starting in Heidelberg, Germany, and moving on to Rome and Barcelona before returning to Oslo.  The past couple weeks have been a bit busy, but I look forward to posting photos of our travels soon.  I realize it has been a while since I've given an update on my status, so I want to fill you in on recent events.  

I began my master's program courses last Monday, 12 January.  Last semester I had class lectures 4-5 days a week, and this semester will only begin the first few weeks with such an emphasis on in-class time.  Then from mid-February on I will have more time for independent work on investigating my research topic.  Although still tentative, I am planning to focus my research on health care access and its effects on diabetes care amongst Hispanics in the US.  I will be completing my stay in Norway in June and return home to the US.  The fall 2009 semester will be devoted to conducting my field research and the spring 2010 semester for drafting my master's thesis.  In order to deliver my thesis and graduate from the University of Oslo, I'll return to Norway sometime in the latter part of the spring 2010 semester.

My Norwegian language course began yesterday and I anticipate a slight increase in the speed of my language acquisition.  This Norwegian course bears a few more credits than last semester and should be a bit more intensive, with more time for class meetings and regular homework assignments.  Also, I've finally found an environment for complete immersion into the Norwegian language, which leads into my next item of good news that I have established a volunteer position at the nursing home I mentioned in previous communications.

I had my first official visit to Nordberghjemmet last week on Wednesday, 14 January, and have visited the residents two other days since then.  I look forward to visiting about 2-3 times each week for a few hours each visit.  I started my time focusing on a group of 8 residents in one section of the nursing home,  establishing relationships and familiarizing myself with the environment.  I'm excited for a meaningful and productive few months helping at the facility.  I help with preparing snacks, read (i.e., attempt to read) the Norwegian newspaper and articles with residents, help putting residents to bed, assist in other daily care activities, and, of course, socialize with everyone.  I am pleased with the variety of activities in which I am allowed to participate.

I started this semester strong with Rotary Club presentations also.  I gave two presentations last week, Monday to Nordstrand RC and Tuesday to Eiksmarka RC, and have another presentation scheduled for this evening to Hønefoss Øst RC.  I am integrating more Norwegian into my presentation as I progress through the year, and my ambitious goal is to deliver around 90% of the presentation in Norwegian by the end of the semester.  

I'm looking outside my window now and watching an amazing snowfall.  We accumulated about a foot and a half of snow Sunday afternoon/evening, and we have snow in the forecast for most of the next 7 days.  All this snow brings up one very important aspect of Norwegian culture: SKIING!

I went cross country skiing once last semester before winter break and enjoyed falling on my rear and side numerous times.  The learning process was fun and only slightly painful.  Now I'm getting a bit better with the technique, and the fresh snow makes the XC skiing a bit easier, as you don't slide down the hills as fast and recklessly as is the case with an icy trail.  I've logged 38 kilometers thus far and look forward to seeing what my cumulative distance may be by the end of the season.  As you may have already noted, I'm greatly enjoying this ski culture.  The word 'ski' comes from the Norwegian language, and indeed skiing is ubiquitous in Norway during snowy winter months.  Yesterday one of my Norwegian classmates actually skied to class from his home.  Seeing how much is coming down now I might have to follow his example and do the same today!

Have a great week!

Dan